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Everything's Rosy
A seafood surprise in the mystery basket plus four distinct cooking styles keep things lively in the appetizer round. And things take a rosy turn in the entrée round, with edible flowers in the basket. But when one chef attempts to create something very special using the flowers, will he get it on the plates in time? Then both finalists jump into crisis mode when things go wrong in the dessert round. Contestants *Gina Rodriguez, Executive Chef, Kokopelli Restaurant and Tequila Bar, Philadelphia, PA *Michael Maroni, Chef and Restaurateur, Maroni Cuisine, Northport, NY *Rob Evans, Chef and Restaurateur, Hugo's, Portland, ME *Justin Bazdarich, Chef and Restaurateur, Speedy Romeo, Brooklyn, NY Judges *Marc Murphy *Maneet Chauhan *Scott Conant Meal Appetizer Ingredients: British Piccalilli, Biscuit Dough, Watercress, Soft-Shell Crab Chef Gina: Crab Sandwich with Piccalilli Dressing Gina made a soft-shell crab sandwich with Piccalilli-dressed-watercress. In the dressing was a little Asian hot sauce and apricot jam. Marc liked the presentation, but felt that because Gina rolled out the biscuit dough, the bread became a little tough. Scott thought it was a thoughtful little sandwich, found the apricot jam to be a stroke of genius, and that the flavors were mingling nicely with all of the other components of the dish. Chef Michael: Crabs in the Weeds with Tartar Sauce Michael prepared soft-shell crabs "in the weeds" (a pun on the chives he had put over the dish). Scott got the pun and found it to be very clever, but found that all the chives made it very difficult to eat. Maneet thought the crab was cooked well, enjoyed the seasoning, and found his remark extremely witty. However, she felt the tartar sauce overtook the entire dish. Marc felt that with the biscuit dough, all Michael did was put it in the oven (Michael defended that he put butter on it). He also felt that the piccalilli and the tartar sauce were battling it out on the plate, the tartar sauce was predictable, and questioned why the piccalilli wasn't used in the tartar sauce itself. Chef Rob: Spice-Crusted Crab with Watercress Panzanella Rob prepared a spice crusted soft-shell crab with a watercress and biscuit panzanella, and an emulsion of buttermilk, piccalilli, and herb. Maneet loved that he used the watercress in a completely different form, and the flavors came out beautifully. Marc thought that Rob was the only person to be creative with the biscuit dough by turning it into a panzanella. Scott felt that this term was being used loosely, and that tossing in a few croutons did not make it a panzanella. Chef Justin: Crab Crostini & Piccalilli Aioli with Herb Salad Justin prepared a soft-shell crab crostini with a piccalilli aioli, and a watercress and herb salad. Maneet found the aioli to be fabulous, and enjoyed that the flavor of the piccalilli came through, but felt that the watercress was just thrown on the plate. Marc found the aioli to be the condiment that went best with the crab. Scott wished that the salad would have been dressed more. Justin explained that he ran out of time to get the dressing on the salad. Justin's crab was also overcooked, a result of the steam created by deep-frying. Chopped: Chef Michael was chopped. The judges were happy with how the crab was cooked, but they felt that there was a lack of creativity with some of the other ingredients. They also felt the tartar sauce didn't go with the rest of the dish. Entrée Ingredients: Rack of Wild Boar, Shishito Peppers, Posole, Organic Roses Chef Rob: Wild Boar Pork Chop with Posole Pancake What Rob prepared for the judges was a grilled wild boar pork chop with a posole pancake, and a little apple, sage, and rose petal salad. Scott loved the spice mix, which was super assertive, but worked out really well. Marc noted that he posole pancake was top notch, and his favorite thing on the plate. The biggest problem with Rob's dish was that he didn't get all the fat off of the chops, which spoiled the dish for Maneet. Maneet did not get the flavor of the rose petals in the dish, which Rob countered by saying that they were already flavorless. Chef Justin: Grilled Boar with Posole Purée & Rose Salt Justin prepared a grilled rack of wild boar on top of a toasted garlic and posole purée, and a shishito pepper and wild boar sausage with rose salt. Maneet loved the colors in the presentation and that Justin took the time to make two different preparations, but part of her chop was raw. Marc loved how the toasted garlic flavor came through the posole purée, and found the rose salt one of the most impressive things he had seen all day, but once again, Justin had ran out of time and was unable to dress the greens. Scott said that the rose salt and the sausage were great instincts on Justin's part. Maneet found that the rose salt was the only preparation that really got any flavor out of the rose petals. Chef Gina: Glazed Boar with Sautéed Rose Petals Gina made a glazed pan-seared wild boar on top of sautéed rose petals with a shishito pepper and posole ragout. Scott found that the rose petals were undercooked and very bitter, but he did really like the flavors that she was able to develop in the beans and posole. Maneet really liked the ragout, and found it interesting that as soon as Gina saw the rack of boar, she did not make chops out of it, and used the bones to fortify the sauce. Chopped: Chef Gina was chopped. The judges found it to be a real pleasure to watch Gina work, but the rose petals were raw, and in terms of creativity, she was overshadowed by her competitors. Dessert Ingredients: Falooda Glass Noodles, Oranges, Graham Crackers, Armenian String Cheese Chef Justin: Graham Cracker Crusted Cheese & Orange Sorbet Justin's dessert was a graham cracker encrusted Armenian string cheese with an orange sorbet. He fried the glass noodles, but due to a last-minute change in plan, he forgot to get them on the plate. His first plan was a graham cracker crêpe, but it failed and he had to resort to a new plan. Marc wished that Justin had thought about frying the cheese earlier because it was quite good. Scott loved the yin and yang out the salt in the string cheese and sweetness of the graham cracker. Maneet agreed, and found his dish delicious, especially with the freshness of the orange coming through in the sorbet. Chef Rob: Caramelized Oranges with Cheese Beignets Rob prepared caramelized oranges with string cheese beignets, a maple graham cracker crumble, and puffed rice noodles. Scott noted that there were a lot of spices, between the maple and the marsapone and the cinnamon and the sugar and the orange and the cardamom, but they all worked well together. Marc didn't get the string cheese as much as he did in Justin's dessert. Maneet felt that the falooda noodles looked pretty, but were very bland. However, she noted that there different textural elements and different spices, which he used very well. While cooking the beignets, Rob did have some problems, after accidentally putting flour instead of sugar in his first batch. '''Chopped: '''Chef Justin was chopped. The judges found it to be a very difficult decision, but in the end, it came down to him not dressing his greens and finally forgetting a mystery ingredient. Notes *Rob later returned for Chopped Champions. *This episode is the 100th Chopped episode aired. *The episode mistakenly calls a mystery ingredient "posole". The actual ingredient was hominy, which is used in posole. Category:Season 9 Category:Episodes Category:Watercress Category:Oranges Category:Biscuit Dough Category:Graham Crackers Category:Soft-Shell Crabs Category:Hominy Category:Wild Boar Category:Rack of Wild Boar Category:String Cheese Category:Shishito Peppers Category:Falooda Glass Noodles